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Portrait of the controversial figure nominated by Mr. Trump as Attorney General

HQ (according to Tin Tuc newspaper) November 15, 2024 08:47

US President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Republican lawmaker Matt Gaetz as Attorney General in his future administration has caused a stir on both sides of the political aisle.

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Rep. Matt Gaetz and his November 12, 2024 tweet about immigration (screenshot)

If confirmed, Mr. Gaetz would become both the nation’s top prosecutor and head of the Justice Department. As attorney general, Mr. Gaetz would also oversee agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

In a post on the social media platform Truth Social on November 13, Mr. Trump announced this nomination, citing Mr. Gaetz's resume as a lawyer and member of the House Judiciary Committee.

The US president-elect, who has criticised the Justice Department for bringing two federal lawsuits against him, said Mr Gaetz would root out “systemic corruption” and return the department to “its true mission of fighting crime and defending our democracy and our constitution”.

Mr. Gaetz, who has faced a series of investigations into allegations of improper and illegal behavior, has been controversial during his time in the House and has clashed with his congressional colleagues, even within his own party. As a result, there have been some raised eyebrows over Mr. Trump’s nomination, with some Republicans saying it was not a “serious” move.

Mr. Gaetz will have to pass the Senate confirmation hearing in the upcoming Congress, before being approved as Attorney General. The specific date has not been set.

Republicans will have a 53-seat majority in Congress, but the split over Mr Gaetz’s nomination could hamper his chances. Just four Republican votes of disapproval, along with unanimous Democratic opposition, would deny the nomination.

So why is Mr. Gaetz a controversial choice for the position of US Attorney General?

Who is Matt Gaetz?

Mr. Gaetz, 42, was until this week a member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing Florida. He had held the position since 2017 but resigned on November 13, after being nominated by the president-elect to be attorney general. Mr. Gaetz represents Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and parts of Walton County.

The politician graduated from William and Mary Law School in Virginia in 2007 and briefly practiced law in private practice before entering politics. Mr. Gaetz followed in the footsteps of his father, Don Gaetz, who served as a Florida state senator from 2006 to 2016 and will return to the Senate next year, after the 2024 general election.

Gaetz is widely known as a far-right ideologue. In 2021, he posted on the social media channel X in support of the Great Replacement Theory, a conspiracy theory promoted by white nationalists in the United States that falsely claims that Democrats are deliberately replacing whites with non-whites through mass immigration. Gaetz's tweet was still active on the social media platform as of the morning of November 14.

Responding to the nomination on November 13, Mr. Gaetz shared in a post on X that it would be “an honor to serve” as Attorney General.

Ever been under criminal investigation

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On November 13, Mr. Trump announced Mr. Gaetz's nomination, citing Mr. Gaetz's resume as a lawyer and member of the House Judiciary Committee (screenshot)

In early 2021, the Justice Department opened a federal sex trafficking investigation into Mr. Gaetz, which involved whether Mr. Gaetz and an associate, Joel Greenberg, paid or gave gifts to underage girls in exchange for sex with them and other men during a trip to the Bahamas.

In the same investigation, Justice Department prosecutors are also looking into whether Mr. Gaetz and other associates solicited jobs for women.

Mr. Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing in all of the allegations. In a statement to CNN when the Justice Department began its investigation, he said the allegations were part of an “extortion scheme” and that “no part of these allegations is true.”

“Over the past several weeks, my family and I have been the victims of an organized extortion scheme involving a former Justice Department official seeking $25 million by threatening to smear my name,” Gaetz said in a statement at the time.

Then, in 2022, Greenberg, a Republican politician from Florida, pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of minors and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. However, Gaetz said in a statement in February 2023 that the Justice Department had closed its investigation and would not prosecute him.

Other allegations

Gaetz has been under investigation by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee since 2021 for his alleged involvement in the trafficking of a 17-year-old girl. It is unclear whether this is a case being investigated by the Justice Department.

Earlier this year, the committee said Mr Gaetz was also being investigated for alleged illegal drug use, accepting “inappropriate” gifts as a lawmaker and obstructing a government investigation.

Citing an unnamed Republican official, The New York Times reported earlier this week that the committee was preparing to vote on a “scathing indictment of Gaetz” on November 15. However, with his resignation, the House no longer has the authority to continue the investigation.

The politician repeatedly resisted questioning by the committee at hearings in 2023 and 2024, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Gaetz also delayed the House investigation for months, and the indictment could not be released earlier because House rules prohibit disclosing negative reports about lawmakers so close to a vote.

Close relationship with Mr. Trump

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Mr. Gaetz and Mr. Trump appeared in Manhattan criminal court in May.

Mr. Gaetz is a close ally of Mr. Trump and frequently appears on television shows to defend him.

Like Mr Trump, Mr Gaetz supports tightening borders and opposes imposing tighter restrictions on gun ownership.

In the House, Mr. Gaetz fiercely criticized the Justice Department's criminal charges against Mr. Trump, related to the former president's handling of classified information and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

When Mr. Trump went to court in the “hush money” case against adult film actress Stormy Daniels, Mr. Gaetz traveled to New York to support him.

Citing a former White House aide, the AP news agency said Mr. Gaetz proactively sought a presidential pardon for the Justice Department investigation before Mr. Trump left office in January 2021.

Political analysts say Trump's move to nominate lawmaker Gaetz as Attorney General is a reward for his support of the president-elect.

Republican Party members react

Mr. Gaetz is a member of the Freedom Caucus, a group loyal to Mr. Trump that is considered the most conservative and far-right in the party.

Two investigations into Mr. Gaetz have overshadowed his time in Congress. His leading role in pushing for the impeachment of former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year has also earned him some opponents.

“I was shocked by this nomination,” said Republican Sen. Susan Collins. “Obviously, the president has the right to nominate anyone he wants, but this is why the Senate’s advice and consent process is so important. I’m sure there will be many, many questions raised at Mr. Gaetz’s hearing if this nomination actually moves forward.”

Republican Senator Liza Murkowski said she believed Mr Gaetz “is not a serious candidate”.

However, Mr Gaetz’s allies in the House of Representatives have defended the lawmaker. Representative Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican from Florida, said that while many will try to “smear him, the evidence will speak for itself.”

The hidden meaning in the new role

In his nomination announcement, Mr Trump said Mr Gaetz would “reform” the Justice Department and end the “weaponisation of the justice system”.

Hours before that announcement, Mr. Gaetz posted on the social network X that he supported a “secure southern border,” referring to tighter controls on the US-Mexico border through which many migrants enter the country.

Mr Gaetz also supports less expensive “single-issue spending bills” in the House, rather than the “chaotic” packages he describes as “chaotic”.

The lawmaker also said he supports drilling for and selling more U.S. oil, which experts say could be a sign that the legislative support could benefit the oil and gas industries, which are blamed for polluting fossil fuels that are largely responsible for climate change.

HQ (according to Tin Tuc newspaper)
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Portrait of the controversial figure nominated by Mr. Trump as Attorney General